6 Anchorage Adventures You Must Have
Anchorage may often be recognized as a major cruise ship port, but Alaska’s largest city is a destination on its own.
Anchorage is full of outdoor spaces, engaging attractions, and a sharp culinary scene ranging in price and preference. It also is a great destination for learning more about Indigenous culture, located within Dena’ina Ełnena, the traditional homelands of the Dena’ina Athabascan people.
If the weather conditions are right, and usually happening from April through the middle of August, Anchorage can also be a base for catching sight of the northern lights.
From seasonal to year-round, here is how to experience Anchorage as a local would.
In This Article
1. Attend a festival
Aside from marking celestial wonders, Anchorage has quite an event calendar full of festivals, gatherings and races. These events honor longtime traditions or encourage people to come together.
Among them, Anchorage Fur Rendezvous is Alaska’s largest and oldest winter festival including championship dog sled races and Alaska Native traditions. This 12-day festival features events such as the Grand Parade, Frostbite Footrace, Outhouse Races, Running of the Reindeer, the Charlotte Jensen Alaska Native Arts Market and Championship Sled Dog Races.
It’s also the starting point of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, as this famous competition happens on the first Saturday of March each year.
Every June, Anchorage is shaped by the summer solstice, as the longest day of the year gives Anchorage 22 hours of daylight. This natural phenomenon is celebrated through the Summer Solstice Festival held in downtown Anchorage.
2. Visit the Anchorage Museum
Seated upon the traditional homeland of the Eklutna Dena’ina, the Anchorage Museum provides an excellent introduction to the art, history, peoples and culture of Alaska.
Give yourself extra time within the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, which holds the largest and longest loan in the Smithsonian’s history. This exhibition floor contains more than 600 Alaska Native cultural heritage pieces on view through glass display cases.
Continuous visual and audio presentations add to this showing. The rotation includes film footage of life in Alaska, insights from Alaska Native experts and contemporary and archival photographs.
The museum’s Alaska Exhibition presents a chronology of our 49th state’s pre-colonial era to modern-day history through multiple voices and perspectives.
The Art of the North galleries presents the museum’s collection of paintings, sculpture, photography and other mediums that provide different points of view of Alaska’s Northern landscape and wilderness. Families can get hands-on in the Discovery Center or participate in an astrology program at the Thomas Planetarium.
3. Learn more about Alaska Native Culture
As Alaska’s largest cultural institution, the Alaska Native Heritage Center promotes the heritage and traditions of Alaska’s 11 major cultures through its event and exhibition spaces.
The Gathering Place is where dancing, games, demonstrations, storytelling and performances take place. The Hall of Cultures teaches about Alaska’s five major cultural groups and six authentic and life-sized Native dwellings within a wooded, lakeside area. A culture bearer will tell more about these groups’ daily lives.
4. Take flight at Alaska Aviation Museum
Anchorage has strong ties to aviation, as both the location of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and a major cargo and passenger traffic hub.
Find out why by gliding over to the Alaska Aviation Museum, which is located on the south shore of Lake Hood, the world’s busiest seaplane base.
The museum showcases the state’s history with the open skies through four hangers stocked with exhibits and over 20 vintage aircrafts. Watch outgoing and incoming planes from the Seybert Tower.
5. Take a Bite out of the Last Frontier
It’s natural to associate Alaska with seafood, but Anchorage has quite a mix of overall dining setups, interests and cuisines.
In downtown Anchorage, Simon & Seafort’s offers upscale-casual American fare with a contemporary twist on classic cuisine. The restaurant is known for its locally sourced, made-from-scratch menu and one of few happy hour menus in Anchorage.
Of course, Anchorage would have places to go for coffee but this city actually has its own respective coffee culture with shops, cafes and eateries.
Snow City Cafe continuously gets high marks in the “Best Breakfast” category, as this vibrant space prepares delicious breakfast and lunch menu orders and house-baked treats amid sunny decor. Fine dining is on a higher level at Crow’s Nest at the Hotel Captain Cook, with 360 degree views amid their full dinner service.
Breweries are also a sudsy fixture. Among others, 49th State Brewing’s Anchorage location is based within a former Elks lodge. Take in a long list of on-tap beers and a multi-course lunch and dinner menu with kids’ options.
6. Depart from a railroad stop
Train aficionados might be familiar with the Alaska Railroad but do they also know that there’s a serious link to Anchorage. The city originated in 1915 as a central hub for railroad construction.
Today, the historic Anchorage Depot serves as the launching point for several of the Alaska Railroad’s summer routes. They include Coastal Classic Train, Denali Star Train, Hurricane Turn Train and Glacier Discovery Train.
The Denali Star Train travels between Anchorage and Fairbanks with access to Denali National Park and Preserve. Starting in Anchorage, that train offers a day trip to Talkeetna for shopping, dining and adventures like flightseeing.
The Glacier Discovery Train brings visitors to Whittier for glacier cruises, hiking and local exploration. This route also treks out to the remote Spencer Glacier Whistle Stop, for access to Spencer Glacier with short hikes and rafting trips. The Coastal Classic Train travels between Anchorage and Seward with access to Kenai Fjords National Park.